Of Alien Invaders & Rutting Vulcans

We've taken the voyages of the starship Enterprise one adventure further with a series of original movie-style art print sets commemorating every episode of Star Trek, the iconic American television series that aired from 1966 to 1969.

The Original Series has become a cult classic, and its leading-edge plot lines and mores have influenced many science-fiction TV shows and movies that have followed.

Designer/illustrator Juan Ortiz talks about the inspiration for our seventh set of Star Trek: The Original Series Art Prints, which includes:

Episode 29: Operation: Annihilate! "This one was inspired by crate labels for oranges," say the artist of this stark, stylized design. Captain Kirk displays grim determination with phaser in hand, as the Enterprise crew arrives on the planet Deneva and battles parasitic amoeba-like aliens that overtake the human nervous system and use excruciating pain to control their victims.

Episode 30: Amok Time. This is the first art print Ortiz created for the TOS series and one of his favorites. The dragon is a metaphor for "Spock's 'burning' need," says the artist. He's referring to "pon farr," the time when adult Vulcans go into heat, experience a rutting rage and risk death unless they mate with their betrothed ones. "With the red coming out of the [dragon's] face, it looks as if he's contemplating his destiny in the stars," adds Ortiz. The quote at the bottom from Vulcan elder T'Pau rounds out the message.

Episode 60: Is There in Truth No Beauty? The artist's inspiration here came from a Birdman of Alcatraz poster by Saul Bass. Ortiz says he was aiming for a feeling of loneliness for Spock, who must mind meld with a Medusan ambassador in order to pilot the Enterprise back to its galaxy. The Medusans have great beauty of character, but their physical appearance causes humanoids to go insane. Says the artist, "The image started out as a photo of Spock from an episode. I pumped up the contrast to where it's mostly just shapes. Then I deleted parts of it, and added texture and color. I was hoping for a feeling of solitude."

Episode 62: Day of the Dove. This design pays homage to Saul Bass' Spartacus poster from 1960. In this episode, a malevolent entity feeds off hatred and high emotion, and provoke conflict between a group of Klingons and Enterprise crew. "My original idea had the glowing red entity hovering above the Enterprise," says Ortiz. "But I felt that a Klingon element needed to be added." Hence, the upraised sword.

The set and all others in the series will be available for a limited time only. None will be repeated or reprinted after they're gone.